Chelsea Supporters’ Trust slam the club over coach subsidy removal

The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) has slammed the club for its decision to remove the full coach subsidy for domestic away travel.

The Blues announced the decision on Monday – although coaches will still be arranged for specific games for both the men’s and women’s teams. 

The cost of coach travel is expected to be disclosed when tickets are made available for purchase.

The initial coach offered was for Chelsea’s upcoming journey to Bournemouth on September 17. 

It was originally priced at £29 per person until the CST agreed to subsidise the match for interested supporters, reducing the fare to £10.

The CST took decisive action to ‘highlight the appalling decision and give the club additional time to fully reassess the feedback received from user groups’.

CST argued that the ‘appalling decision will force those who rely on the service to pay significantly more to travel to away fixtures’.

Chelsea had justified their decision by stating that ‘it was not financially sustainable to continue to offer subsidised coach travel”’ 

They added that starting from their away fixture against Burnley after the international break, fans will be informed of the coach cost upon ticket release.

Chelsea’s verdict comes after a record-breaking transfer splurge from the new owners, who have smashed the British transfer record twice since they arrived at Stamford Bridge.

They forked out £115 million to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion, which surpassed the record they initially established when they acquired Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for £106m in January.

Despite earning around £270 million this summer from player sales, the club has spent over £900m across three transfer windows since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover.

The Blues have picked up four points from their opening three Premier League games in the Mauricio Pochettino era. 

They will take on League 2 side AFC Wimbledon in the second round of the League Cup on Wednesday night before hosting Nottingham Forest this weekend.